


What’s in the Shadows

by frostedroyaltea



Series: Speak of the Devil AU [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Backstory, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, First Meetings, Gen, Identity Reveal, Minor Character Death, One Shot, POV Third Person, POV Third Person Omniscient, Prequel, Short, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:21:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25480813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frostedroyaltea/pseuds/frostedroyaltea
Summary: How Oliver met Daredevil and Matt Murdock, and how he found out they were the same person. Takes place before 'the devil and the bratva'.
Relationships: Barry Allen & Oliver Queen, Franklin "Foggy" Nelson & Marci Stahl, John Diggle & Oliver Queen & Felicity Smoak, Matt Murdock & Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, Matt Murdock & Oliver Queen, Moira Queen & Oliver Queen & Thea Queen, Tommy Merlyn & Oliver Queen
Series: Speak of the Devil AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1810366
Kudos: 30





	What’s in the Shadows

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place before 'the devil and the bratva' (2015) and after season 1 of Arrow (2012) so it takes place about 2013/2014.

Matt Murdock was wondering what the hell Oliver queen was doing in Hell’s Kitchen. Then, later, he hit a poor girl with his motorcycle. It didn’t clear anything up about what he was doing in The Kitchen. It did, however, lower Matt’s opinion of the man even more.

“What do you think he’s doing?” Matt asks Foggy one night. They’re close to graduating and should be studying but both have other things on their minds. Those ‘other things’ being what Oliver Queen is doing in Hell’s Kitchen and why he’s been there for so long.

“I don’t know, man. Partying maybe?”

“He said he’s changed though,” Marci says. Marci and Foggy found out they were soulmates rather quickly. On the first day in class in fact.

“A leopards can’t change its spots,” Foggy says, and Matt roles his eyes.

“People can change Foggy. His time on the island must’ve been pretty rough on him. I heard he came back covered in scars.”

Foggy shrugs. “Maybe. Hey, you know what? We should go out, have some fun. We can get back to this later, the test isn’t for a while anyway.”

Matt cracks a smile. “Sure. Why not.”

**********

Whatever Oliver was doing in Hell’s Kitchen was suspicious as hell. He kept tailing a group of kids. 

Later, when Oliver stopped them and started interrogating them ( _since when did Oliver Queen speak Russian?_ ), Matt decided he had had enough. He donned his black mask and followed him, creeping along, silently on the rooftops. It was the third time he’d been out in the mask. He wasn’t the first though. There was The Hood, or, Green Arrow, in Starling City, all the way in Washington, and Batman in Gothman which was closer to home. 

There were the Avengers too, but they didn’t count. Not really. Hawkeye though, sometimes went out in Brooklyn, stopping a few crimes every so often. 

Oliver had been talking to one of the kids, Ivan, if Matt heard right, and he almost always did, and ended up giving the kid his phone number and instructed him to set a meeting, if at all possible. Ivan agreed though he sounded reluctant. The kid was familiar to Matt, they’d met briefly before. 

Matt knew the kid was in some shit and he didn’t want Oliver dragging him down deeper. He went to talk to Ivan first. He was out on that rooftop he always went up to when he wanted to get away. 

Matt lands silently and rolls up onto his feet. Ivan’s flat on his back, staring up at the sky. He flips the phone open then closes it with a sigh before opening it again, wondering if he should call his boss’s if Matt had to guess.

Matt clears his throat and Ivan jumps to his feet. He has a knife out and pointed towards Matt almost instantly. “What do you want with me?” he chokes out, fear filling his voice.

“To talk. I’m not armed.”

  
  
“I’ve heard what you’ve done to people. I swear I haven’t done anything. I-”

“I believe you. Relax. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Ivan lowers the knife, lets his shoulders drop. 

“Thank you,” Matt says. He holds his hands out, palms facing the kid. “I just want to know what Oliver Queen wanted from you.”

“He had a name. Asked me if I recognized it. That’s all,” Ivan says weakly.

“Anything else.”

Ivan nods jerkily. “He asked me to set up a meeting. I haven’t yet. I don’t know if I should. Do you-”

Matt leaps off the roof then. He’ll check on the kid later. For now, he needs to find where Oliver Queen got to.

**********

“Malbona Ulo, you have failed Starling City.”

A pipe hits his head just as he’s about to draw the bow. Malbona Ulo stands before him, hands on his knees and chest heaving. He acquired many more tattoos since leaving Starling City and now his hands are dripping of red more than ever.

Oliver shakes off the hit and draws his bow once more. Ulo looks up, stares into Oliver’s eyes. A figure clad in black drops down and throws a punch. It hits Ulo on the head and he drops. His chest moves weakly, he’s alive though unconscious. 

Oliver turns in a circle, scanning the rooftops and corners for wherever the other person vanished to. A hand reaches out and yanks his bow away from him. It’s thrown and clatters to the ground several feet away. Oliver spins around and he's yanked backwards when his quiver his forcefully pulled off him. “What the hell?” he whispers, eyes still scanning the skies. 

He feels a tug on the back of his hood and he’s thrown onto the ground. He lays there for a moment, hears the crunch of gravel by his head, and grabs the person’s leg and pulls. They go down with a surprised grunt. Whoever it is kicks at Oliver and scrambles away. 

“What do you want?” Oliver snarls at them.

“I won’t let you kill that man. Not here. Not ever. I know who you are, Oliver Queen.”

Oliver freezes and his blood goes cold. “Who are you?”

“Just a man. Like you. Like Malbona.” He steps out of the shadows. “Do. Not. Kill him. You won’t ever be able to come back from it.”

“I’ve killed before.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to do it again. It doesn’t _excuse_ doing it again.”

“Why do you care?” Oliver asks because he genuinely wants to know. Cleary the man in black has no qualms about beating someone to unconsciousness. But killing? That’s where he crosses the line.

“It isn’t your call to make.”

The man somehow sees, no, senses it, before Oliver does. Ulo reaches for the gun in his waistband and fires. It hits mask man and he goes down with a cry. Oliver throws the pipe the masked man hit him with at Ulo and he’s out cold. Now that the masked man is down Oliver picks up his bow, the damn thing almost broke but it will finish the job, and pulls an arrow out of the broken quiver. 

He draws the bow and watches as it pierces Ulo’s chest. No matter what the masked man says Ulo deserved it. 

Oliver goes to him next and feels for his pulse. He’s alive. Olive picks him up, almost cradling him, and gets him to an abandoned warehouse nearby. 

Oliver sets the man down on the floor of the warehouse and manages to get his shirt off him without aggravating the wound. Oliver feels for an exit wound and finds one. The bullet went through all the way. Good. 

He presses a wad of torn up shirt to each wound and holds them in place until the bleeding has slowed enough Oliver feels like it’s safe enough to move him. He pulls the mask off, he needs something to hold the wands in places and it’s only fair as somehow he found out Oliver’s identity. He’s young. Young like the Allen kid.

Oliver quickly secures the makeshift bandages with his mask and picks him up again. The man groans. “No hospital,” he mutters and Oliver rolls his eyes. 

“I’m not taking you to one. If I do both of us will have to explain what we were doing.”

The man lets out another pained groan and stays silent for the rest of the way.

**********

Oliver has no idea how he managed to get the guy into his hotel room undetected. Sheer luck probably. 

He sets him on the bed and makes sure both door and window are locked and that no one can see past the curtain. Before going after Ulo Oliver managed to put together a makeshift first aid kit. 

He cleans the cut on the man’s chest first before stitching it. The man twitches every so often but his eyes stay closed. It’s when Oliver’s turning him on to his front that he wakes up and lashes out. “Hey, you’re safe,” Oliver says. 

He steps back after the man tries to strike him. “We’re in my hotel room so I’d suggest quieting down unless you want to wake the other people." He stills and feels the now-stitched wound on his chest. 

“Yeah, I got you stitched up. Hold still so I can do the other one.” The man slowly turns onto his front, hissing from the pain when he lays on the wound. “What’s your name?” Oliver asks as he cleanses the other one. “It’s only fair I get to know yours, don’t you think?”

“Matthew,” he says and he winces once Oliver starts stitching the wound. 

“Well, then Matt, how’d you know my name?” He doesn’t reply and his eyes are close again. Oliver finishes stitching the wound in silence.

**********

“You awake yet?”

“Now I am,” Matt groans. “Where am I?”

“My hotel room. You should eat." Something’s set down to his side. He’s on a bed. In Oliver Queen’s hotel room. After a second of panic, he remembers the night before. And then he realizes his mask his gone.

Oliver scoffs when Matt reaches a hand up and finds it gone. “I’m not going to tell anyone about you, Matthew. As long as you won’t tell anyone about me.”

“Deal.”

“There’s food if you’re hungry.”

Right. The food. He can smell it. “Thanks,” Matt says curtly. “Am I still in hell’s Kitchen?”

“Clinton? Yeah. You live around here?”

Matt hums instead of replying. He brushes his hand on the top of the bedside table until it bumps the plate of food. He grabs it then realizes he was no idea where the utensils are. He lets out a quiet sigh. 

Oliver’s walking closer now. Matt can imagine him peering into his face. “Are you blind?” Oliver asks.

“Yeah. I am.”

“Sorry about that.” A hand bumps his. Oliver’s holding the fork and Matt takes it.

“You aren’t surprised.”

“I’ve seen stranger things.” Oliver walks away and Matt hears a drawer open then close. A zipper bag opens and there’s a soft ruffling sound of something being shoved in it.

“On the island?”

“On the island.”

Oliver continues moving around the room as Matt eats. The footsteps return and somethings dropped on the bed beside him. “Here’s a shirt,” Oliver. “It’s clean, just solid grey.”

“Thanks.” Matt sets the plate back on the bedside table and puts the shirt on. “That guy, what happened to him?”

“I put an arrow in him.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Matt says, frowning. While he does think Oliver has done good his methods leave something to be desired. 

“It’s too late now. You should uh,” Oliver clears his throat, “leave before me. I have to check out in a few hours so you should have time. I found this in an alley close to where we were. I’m guessing it’s yours.” 

Oliver sets something by his hand. Matt grabs it, runs his fingers over it. It's his cane. “Thanks,” he says. He swings his legs onto the ground and stands. “You ever plan on coming back as The Hood?”

“Not for a while, if I do at all. Good luck out there Matt.”

“You too. Well, I can certainly say I never expected to meet you this way.”

“As Oliver Queen or The Hood?”

“Both. I never expected either. At all.”

“Maybe I’ll see you again,” Oliver says and he shrugs.

Matt grins. “Maybe you will.” He tilts his head to one side almost reminding Oliver of a puppy. “You got a burner?”

“Yeah.”

“We should exchange numbers.”  
  


“So we can team up or something? Find each other if we need to?” 

“Something like that,” Matt says as he’s handing his phone to Oliver. “But I’ll know if you’re in Hell’s Kitchen whether you call or not.  
  


“Alright,” Oliver says. I got yours, here’s my phone.” Oliver hands his phone to Matt and says, “The keypads the same as yours.”

Matt puts his number in Oliver’s burner and hands the phone back. “Well, I’ve got to get back. My friends will be wondering about me, ‘cause, well you know,” Matt shrugs and Oliver nods. “Bye Oliver.”

“Bye Matt. If you need any advice about your second _job_ just call.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.” Matt leaves then and Oliver watches him go. He’ll be back in Clinton eventually. Probably. He has people here he knows now anyhow.

He calls Tommy and his family, telling them he’s leaving Manhattan tonight, and _yes_ , I’ve already told you I can pick up souvenirs. He calls Diggle next. “Hey, Dig. I‘ll be coming home tonight.”

“Hang on Oliver, Felicity is here, let me put it on speaker.”

“Hi Oliver,” Felicity says and Oliver’s grinning.

“Hey, guys. I’ll be coming home tonight. Everything’s been taken care of down here.”

“Great! Because I’ve been planning on going to this restaurant I found and I’ve been waiting for you to get back so we can all go together.”

“I’ll see you when you get back then,” Dig says. “Felicity and I will be waiting for you at the airport.”

“That’s wonderful. So I’ll see you guys then. I’ve got to finish packing, check out is in a few hours.”

“Bye Oliver,” they both somehow say at the same time. The call ending cuts off Felicity’s laugh and Oliver’s smiling again. He’ll see them both tonight and then he’ll be home and he finds himself looking forward to it.


End file.
